Annihilation Prequel - Psychic Beginnings (24 page)

AG shook his head, “As well as the intruders and phantoms.”

“It appears air support is out of the question unless we’re willing to lose some aircraft.”

“I’m forced to agree. They’ll also set them up where we can’t get at them with the 155’s.” AG paused, “Do you wish we had gone home?”

“And miss all the Vietnamese cooking? Not a chance.”

“Jerry, when this is over, I want you to take a trip with me.”

“Where?”

“Boston.”

“Why?”

“I need you to help a friend of mine.”

“Ok, let’s hope we make it out of this.”

“There is that.” AG looked across the hill and yelled, “Lt. Blackwell!”

Larry came running over and AG said, “I want you to preload the cannon and have them ready.”

“That violates proper procedure, Sir.”

“I know, but when we need them we’ll have to use them immediately to prevent their guns from hitting the camp.”

Larry thought a moment, “Do you have an idea of the timeframe?”

“I’ll know within twenty minutes.”

“Then let me know and I’ll load em up and have them ready.”

AG smiled, “That’s good enough. I’ll give you the settings as soon as I make the determination.”

“We’ll be standing by, Sir.” Larry turned and ran back to his ten Howitzers. AG looked up and saw the black lines disappearing into the sky. That told him they were still a long way off but now in range of his artillery. He wasn’t going to start firing until the bulk of their forces were inside the valley and just before they started firing their artillery.

AG’s radioman said, “Message from HQ, Sir.”

AG took the microphone, “This is Gardner.”

“There have been massive attacks all across South Vietnam. Every major city and town is under attack by the Vietcong and there is house to house fighting in the streets.” Lt. Col. Green paused, “It appears we were caught totally off guard and though our response is slow, we are making progress. However, this means we will not have anyone to come to support us against the approaching enemy forces. I’m stunned the North would attack during their new year.”

“It makes sense, Sir. Even if they didn’t have a beef with us, they have to do something major in order to get America to write this whole thing off as a waste. The approaching units should be setup within the next twelve hours. I’ll start firing as soon as they begin artillery preparations.”

“You’ll give your location away if you do.”

“What good is this location if we don’t use it? Are you ready to hold the high ground?”

“I am. We have enough mortars to make it costly to even come close. I’m holding the Dragons back until they do.”

“I am as well, Sir. Good luck. When you hear the explosions, the party’s started and the band is playing.”

• • •

“General Huang, are the guns ready?”

“They will be within six hours. The anti-aircraft defenses are also in place behind our positions and to the north.”

“What about the ones on the other side of the river?”

“They were moved in earlier and can cover us from anything coming from Danang.”

“We’ll begin the bombardment when we have enough men in position to attack.”

Huang nodded and wondered why nothing had happened to prevent the buildup. He knew there was only an infantry regiment at the camp and there was more than a division here to eliminate them. Was this going to be the end of the Demon? He remembered his encounter and knew that he was told there would come a time where he was going to have to persuade his superiors not to attack the Demon’s location. He looked around and saw that these were not his people. His people were Chinese. The Demon had not been seen at the camp and perhaps this attack would succeed. Huang looked at the artillery position four hundred yards away and decided that it was time to go inspect the units moving toward the front. He tried not to worry but just couldn’t prevent it. This was going entirely too easy and things just didn’t happen this way when dealing with the White Demon Warriors.

The General watched him leave and sneered. Perhaps an unfortunate accident would happen to the coward. It would have to done carefully. The Chinese must not know what happened. He nodded to his aide and saw him move out behind Huang.

• • •

AG looked out over the jungle and saw the black lines were now visible below the low hanging clouds. He saw one black line that suddenly appeared and sensed that it was important. It was a small line no bigger than the thickness of a pencil. He walked over to a fifty caliber machine gun and looked out over the jungle. The small black line was now just in front of the 50’s barrel. He yelled to Blackwell, “Start firing when you hear the 50.” Blackwell nodded and issued the orders. AG sat down behind the 50 and turned the barrel up in the air.

• • •

Huang moved through the jungle toward the forward units when he suddenly heard one shot from a gun in the distance. He stopped and listened and then heard a loud thump behind him. He turned and went back and found the General’s aide on the ground with a large hole through the center of his forehead. He looked down and saw that the aide had been carrying a captured American AR-15 assault rifle. He immediately heard the distinctive sounds of American artillery going off to the west, followed by massive explosions in the direction of his base camp. The Firebase was south of him so he knew that there were heavy guns setup to the west. That single shot had come from the west so he knew where the Demon was located. He looked back down at the aide and knew that he was there to kill him. He looked off to the west and knew the Demon had allowed him to live…again. He turned and went back toward the General’s headquarters and knew he would not be able to get caught out in the open again. His anger grew but he also knew the General was about to learn what he already knew. This was going to be a nightmare.

• • •

General Van Phang watched the artillery unit go up in a huge explosion. He barely managed to hit the ground before shrapnel blew by over his head, taking out half of his headquarters’ unit. One of his majors came running over and said, “All of our forward guns and rocket launchers have been destroyed.”

He still had ringing in his ears but yelled, “Bring up the reserves.”

“We’ve tried, but they have also been hit as soon as they moved close to our location.”

“Where are those shells coming from?”

“It appears the Americans have an artillery unit on a hill to the west. That is the one that’s doing the most damage.”

“Get a battalion over there and remove it!”

The major turned and ran back toward the secondary base set up in the jungle to issue the orders.

AG yelled, “Cease fire. Save your rounds.” Lt. Blackwell gave the order and the guns were silenced. AG looked up and only saw small lines leaving the camp. The targets were barely in mortar range and he started adjusting the settings on the mortars. Soon, 81mm mortar rounds were leaving the hill and Vietcong mortar units began dying in the jungle below.

Colonel Jensen was on the radio with Brian, “We need to send in air support.”

“If you do, you’ll lose the planes, Sir”

“Why?”

“They’ve brought in surface-to-air missile batteries. They have the 75 and 75m’s here along with numerous Zu-74s. You’ll lose too many jets if you try to help us.”

Jensen thought about it and said, “It appears someone wants your firebase destroyed. How large a force are you facing?”

“My scouts tell me it’s a reinforced division of NVA regulars.”

“Well they timed their attack well. The entire county is up in flames with the Tet offensive. I don’t have much I can send even if I wanted.”

“We’ll hold out, Colonel. Get them here when you can.”

“Do the best you can. I’ll try to get some weasels on it but it won’t happen quickly.”

“Thank you, Sir.”

Brian turned to the map on his desk and knew it was not going to be easy to hold out against that many enemy soldiers. He listened and didn’t hear any weapons. He hurried out of his bunker and Jerry said, “They know AG is on the hill. They’re moving the majority of their forces in that direction.”

“Is there anything we can do?”

Jerry shrugged, “We can’t move out of here without being hit. Even if we got Hueys inhere, the Zu’s would chop them up.”

“Can we help with our 155s?”

“They’re moving out of range and coming at the hill from the north. I’m going to start hitting the troops they’ve left here but I don’t see any way to breakout before they start operations at the hill.”

“Have you let Major Gardner know?”

“He knows, Sir. He can see them better than either of us.”

“Why did he insist going to that hill?”

“Because he knew the attack was done to get him for what he did to Van Bao. By removing himself from our location he made it more likely that most of our men will live.”

“But that decreases his chances of survival.”

“He did the right thing, Sir. He’s accepting the responsibility of his actions and protecting those in his care.” Jerry looked out at the hill in the distance and said, “He’ll give a lot more than he gets, Colonel.”

“Where are the Ghosts?”

“They’re on the other side of the river behind the hill; their job is to prevent the enemy from attacking from the rear. They’ve had four months to build their traps and mines in that jungle. The enemy will learn that the only way for them to take the White Demon is to go straight at him. This should be a very interesting fight.” Jerry started putting on his camouflage paint and Brian said, “Where are you going?”

“I’m going to join the Ghosts. You can handle the defense now, Sir. We outnumber the ones they left behind. I need to be with our scouts to make sure they don’t make it across the river.”

Brian took a deep breath and exhaled it, “Don’t get killed, Major.”

Jerry smiled, “I’ve got the easy task. Getting through their lines will not pose a problem. If you would fire a mortar barrage it would help me get out.”

Brian nodded and went over to the artillery unit. Twenty mortar rounds were fired simultaneously and Jerry slipped over the sand bags. The explosions in the jungle rang out across the valley.

• • •

AG was looking back at the firebase and saw the explosions in the jungle through his binoculars. Well, that must mean Jerry was on his way. Captain Bingham came over, “The enemy has a lot of cover to get up this hill. We’ve never cleared it.”

AG continued to look through the binoculars and said, “The 50s will remove everything above knee level when the enemy arrives. We just need to wait until the last moment to use them.”

“What about the M60s?”

“You have freedom to use them as you want, Captain. I want the 50s to stay hidden.”

“Yes Sir. How long before they charge?”

“I suspect it will be around night fall. They’ll send in an advanced force to remove the barbed wire barriers first and then they’ll make their move.”

“Are we going to prevent them making holes in the wire?”

AG took the binoculars from his eyes and said, “What would you do?”

“I’d let em make some holes. That will let us know where they’ll be coming.”

AG smiled, “I like the way you think. Move the 50s to cover the holes.” Bingham saluted and moved out to the weapons company. AG looked out at the jungle and waited for what he knew was coming. He closed his eyes and thought of Cynthia.

• • •

“What’s wrong, Cyn?”

“I haven’t heard from AG in more than two weeks. He’s never been this long in writing me. Something is happening and I sense it’s not good.”

Lydia stared at her and said, “Just be patient. He’s able to take care of himself.”

Cynthia felt her tears but couldn’t stop them, “He’s thinking about me right now and he’s worried. I can sense it as clear as I can that wall in front of me.”

Emily came in from a date with James and saw Cynthia’s tears, “What’s wrong?”

“AG is in trouble. I can feel it.”

“You can’t possibly know that, Cyn. You’re just worrying without facts to back it up.”

Cynthia looked up at Em, “I can sense him every day, Emily. I can feel him in my mind and I know something is happening.”

“Turn on the TV.”

Lydia turned on the TV and tuned it to CBS. Walter Cronkite was saying, “…caught our forces in surprise attacks on all the major cities in South Vietnam. Here’s Sam Donaldson.”

“Walter, the Vietcong had launched surprise attacks all over South Vietnam and most of the action is taking place in the streets of the largest cities. Even our firebases along the border with Cambodia and Laos are under attack by massive forces. The loss of life is high but order is slowly being brought out of this chaos. There have been large numbers of killed and captured enemy troops but the end is not in sight.” Suddenly an explosion went off and the reporter ducked behind a car. The view changed to Cronkite and he said, “We have lost our contact with Sam, but it appears our Military is incorrect in saying this war is under control.”

Lydia turned off the TV and said, “If you can still sense him, he’s still alive. That is what you have to hold on to, Cynthia.”

Cynthia closed her eyes and started praying for the man she loved. Emily and Lydia bowed their heads with her.

P
hen finally arrived at the hill where the Demon was located and had his men take cover. He pointed to two men and they moved back and scampered up trees to start sniping at anyone that stuck their head above the ridgeline. He watched them settle in and start scanning for a target. He looked at his sixty men and knew they were ready. The rest of the regiment should be arriving momentarily. He thought about the conversation he had heard between the two generals about the White Demon. The Chinese was adamant that attacking the demon was tantamount to committing suicide but Van Phang accused the Chinese of being a coward. Phen had watched Huang in combat and knew this General was not a coward. He glanced up the hill and wondered if the fear of the Demon was real. No one could do what had been said to have done. Phen suddenly heard two shots that happened about two seconds apart from the top of the hill. They sounded like a heavy machine gun but only firing one shot at a time took extreme skill. He didn’t hear anything else so he looked up at his snipers to see if they could see what was going on. Both were hanging dead from the ropes they used to tie themselves in the trees. He didn’t need to move closer to see that most of their heads were missing. He jerked his head back toward the hill and moved quickly back another ten yards into the jungle. He sat down at the base of a tree and thought about what just happened. He saw his men were also getting fearful. Perhaps Huang had some truth in his beliefs. He glanced back up at the hill and saw it was going to be a long climb to get to the top. He waited for the rest of the troops to arrive and decided he needed someone in the trees to give reports. He pointed to four different men but none of them would look at him. He thought about leaving the tree to order them directly but decided that he was fine just where he was. He wouldn’t go up a tree either.